


Shrewd Beginnings

by Gracie_Girl87



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: F/M, Project Freelancer, Yorkalina
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:55:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24204763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gracie_Girl87/pseuds/Gracie_Girl87
Summary: It's the early days in Project Freelancer. Carolina, along with some other familiar freelancers, are back from a mission. York takes the opportunity to banter with her, but not for too long. He's tired and practically bleeding out, but any chance to talk with Carolina is what he lives for.
Relationships: Agent Carolina/Agent York (Red vs. Blue)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	Shrewd Beginnings

Carolina hoisted up her harness and walked over to the opening of the pelican. Their mission was a success, but things could have gone way more smoothly than they did. She removed her helmet and placed it on her hip with exhaustion. Her lips and teeth were stained red with blood. She had bitten the inside of her cheek sometime during the initial skirmish, but she ignored its pain completely.

“Good work, everyone. Go hit the showers. We regroup and debrief in thirty minutes. Dismissed.”

Everyone picked themselves up to exit the aircraft. As usual, Agent Florida was the most spry out of all of them; springing himself up and offering to help carry another Freelancer’s equipment if they were particularly injured or tired. He quite often offered Maine the help, knowing he’d shove off any assistance with a growl of some sort. It would put a smile on everyone’s face, which was his goal at the end of each mission. With a heavy metallic thud, the pelican ramp made contact with the hangar bay floor and everyone piled out. York took his time exiting the craft, waiting for her to say something; anything. He hoped for it. Even now with his shoulder oozing crimson red down his arm, he hoped for it. He made his way past her, down the mouth of the pelican until her surly tone called after him.

“Agent York, a word.”

He smiled, but his helmet couldn’t hide the playing hard to get tone in his voice.

“What? Now?”

“Now.”

The sternness in her voice was enough to make any subordinate tremble, but he knew she was exhausted. They both needed the next thirty minutes to pull themselves together before the team debriefing. He needed to take a shower and visit the infirmary to get his shoulder wrapped and as team leader she needed to clean the blood from her mouth, shower, get dressed and be in the meeting room with the debriefing forms and documents before everyone else. York was too tired to mess with her for long, especially when they were on a time table. He winced at the shooting pains in his shoulder as he casually turned his head to unlock his helmet and bring it down to rest on his hip.

“What can I do ya for?”

“This is about your journal entries.”

“Uh-oh. Busted.”

“Agent York, this is serious. Those journal entries are for me, your commanding officer, to filter and sift through. I sit through hours and hours of memory logs searching for details. Looking for things I could have easily missed or overlooked on the mission or that slipped through the cracks at the team meetings. I’m up all hours of the night listening, re-watching, searching for any minute detail to help further this project and improve our future missions while you’re probably off in your quarters sleeping.”

York considered making some sort of crude joke based on her being up all hours of the night watching videos of him, but he decided against it. She stepped towards him,

“So, when you open your journal entries by calling me pet names such as _gorgeous_ or _hey beautiful_ , you can imagine I’d have a problem with that as your superior.”

It was too easy.

“What? You don’t like it?” He smiled.

The comment didn’t faze her.

“It’s not about what I like, Agent York. It’s about what’s professional. These are your journal entries. Your memory logs. You’ll do well to remember that I am your C.O. This is your career and I am your superior. So when you next open your journal entries, you’ll call me what I am to you. Understand?”

Again, it was too easy for him not to say anything.

“Well that’s what I’m doing! What you are to me? You’re gorgeous! You’re beautiful! So based on _your_ logic I _am_ opening my journal entries correctly.”

“York, you _know_ that’s not what I meant-”

“Oh ho! York? We’re on a first name basis I see.”

The engines of the pelican hushed to a stop as 479er flipped a few more switches on the front console to shut it down for the night. Carolina turned to see if 49er was coming before furthering the conversation. She turned back to York, her face red with anger.

“Listen here, York. I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but just because we met at a bar doesn’t mean you get to chat me up every time we’re together. Don’t think you have some sort of immunity towards me.”

“You remember Errera.”

He spoke with a gentle happiness in his voice that made Carolina flinch inside. He wanted to be shocked, but the excessive loss of blood from his shoulder melted his caramel colored eyes to a subtle child-like sense of awe.

“And… the lighter?” He continued. “Do you remember that too?”

York lazily drawled out the question. His eyebrows creased with an expression of melancholy that put Carolina on edge. She sank into a vulnerable place that she didn’t like. She noticed more and more how much deep red blood clashed against his golden gauntlet and glove. She couldn’t determine whether or not he was being genuine or if his injury was putting him in some delirious state of mind. Her eyes flicked back and forth between the blood and his gaze. She swallowed the dryness that clung to her throat.

“I-”

“You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here!”

479er approached them from behind, removing her gloves rather pragmatically. She halted, planting her foot where the ramp of the pelican hinged.

“What’s the hold up? You guys okay?”

“Yes.” Carolina answered quickly. “Yes. I was just telling Agent York to head straight to the infirmary. He can catch a shower there.” Her eye contact with him resumed its icy fixation.

“Right.” He nodded with wry disappointment. “I guess I’ll head that way then.”

She pushed past him in a hurry, trying not to knock against his oozing shoulder too harshly. He watched her as she made her way out through the hangar bay doors, turning down the hall towards the locker rooms. His arm throbbed with each breath he took. A deep sigh evaded his parted lips as he turned towards a nearby side door that would lead him to the infirmary. Any banter with Carolina was a win for him. He would eventually have her heart the way she unknowingly had his. He counted on it. It kept him going. He stumbled into the hallway with a smile.

“Until next time, gorgeous.”

**Author's Note:**

> I was going to make this into a bigger story, but I decided that this little fic is great the way it is. We could all use a little more Yorkalina banter in our lives. Hope you like it.


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